Thursday, March 02, 2006
Young Adult Ministries
I would like to hear from you all. I want to know what your oppion is on young adult ministries. First, what age group or status do you think qualifies individuals as a "young adult"? Are there any exceptions to the rule? If you attend FXCC, what do you think the YA group needs (or doesn't need)? What have they succeeded in and what do they need to approve on? If you do not attend FXCC, what has your experience been with YA groups? What do you think works and doesn't work? I want everyone to make a comment. It doesn't matter if you attend FXCC or not, or if you are a YA or not. EVERYONE please make a comment.
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8 comments:
Hmm, what age and status qualifies? I think that's up to the individual...our group started (or at least when I started coming 5 1/2 years ago) a lot younger and some people haven't left even though they are over 30 and have a kid...but hey, as long as they want to be considered a young adult, that's cool. There are also some couples who stopped going once they got married...so it all just depends. I definitely think we need to reach out more to the college students that go to school HERE and integrate them more.
I think the YA group either needs a minister or committees to head things up. It's not fair to depend on just a few people to get things going. I do think that some people have lost some interest in doing "Young Adult Activities" because they have gotten older or just don't feel like it's as important anymore. But I think it is important to make YAs to feel welcomed to FXCC and plugged in. I don't think that the YA group needs as much attention or work as say the youth group, but we do need some leaders. Those leaders might have to be singles since they are the ones more likely to want to do more activities (you have to motivate us old married folk).
I think we need to improve on keeping people. We've lost a lot of people to McLean...some people might have changed due to the worship style, but I think a big part is the YA group they have there. It's active and friendly. We need to figure out how we can do that more.
Wow this is really long, but Mike and I have talked about this several times, so I have a lot of thoughts about this. I have to say that I would be willing to help organize an event, but I don't necessarily want to be put in charge of say the potlucks everytime...but maybe with committees (if they are big enough), I wouldn't have to do something major everytime. Anyway, just some of my thoughts. Thanks for bringing this up Val.
I'll have to think about this a little more and give you my answer.
Cami
I've also pondered just why so many YA have gone to McLean - seems the feeling I get is that it is "exciting to see so many young Christians together worshipping" AND that perhaps seeing that it is important to that church to make sure the young adults are valued - i.e. they are giving a huge support to have a minister, outlet for music, small groups, etc. It's contagious and desirable to "belong" to a group so powerful, but so focused on Christ.
Plus McLean is more structured where getting people plugged in is concerned. I have a few friends that go there and they love the instant friendships whereas other churches may feel more clicky. Plus there's less of an emphasis on getting married and starting a family and more emphasis on service and discipleship. Small groups are homogeneous when it comes to gender, so women and men can focus on Christ instead of on each other. Just a few thoughts . . .
It seems like typically "young adult" means out of high school but not with kids yet. I am not sure I buy into that definition. I think that a young adult could begin even before one has graduated from high school. The problem is that many high schoolers have a faith built around a busy youth program. when they graduate, they immediately leave the youth group and do not have the same kind of rapid fire, spiritual experiences they once did. For young adults, I think about college agae and those just entereing the work force. There are specific challenges to "starting life" and leaving parents which make this type of group unique. Just a few thoughts :o)
I think there's been a lot said a/b the age of a YA group, so I'll leave that be.
I think at fxcc we do need a central leadership position. Be it a minister or a committee. However, being a part of a committee can be draining and can cause burn out. That has been a big problem at fxcc...only the few take charge and so they get tired of always leading, because they have so much else going on in their lives (work, family, traffic, etc.). If we could get enough people willing to take charge and plan (in some sort of rotation), that would be ideal. My personal opinion is that we really need one person whose main focus is the YAs. Because left to ourselves, we seem to stagnate. And because we live in an area where our lives are so busy that (and are at a time in our lives where) it's hard to enjoy adding the extra stress and responsibility of planning and leading the YA group.
I feel we do need more social outlets, more ministry outlets, more expression of our freedom in Christ.
I appreciate our small groups. I think that is one of our biggest strengths. It would be nice if we had a way to easily get info a/b the groups into the hands of visitors.
at university avenue c of c in austin, the college kids and young adults(post college) and the young professionals were really catered to by the older adults. the older adults were constantly hosting nice dinners and lake house weekends and holiday parties for the young adults. the lines blurred among the college, out of college, young professionals, which made it all the more fun. but i really think it was the remarkable mentoring and hospitality provided by the older adults that made everyone feel there was always something great to look forward to and take part in.
Just an observation. After attending the meeting this Sunday, my perception of the issue actually changed a little. As I saw it, the conflict (for lack of a better word) was not really centered around age groups or marital status. To me it seemed more like different expectations between people who had grown up around FXCC and those who had come after high school. There were exceptions of course, but to me that seemed to better fit the issue than age or marital status.
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